Because I knew you, I have been Changed for Good.

I’ve always found it difficult to really connect with people. I have a big personality and I understand how that can turn people off upon initially meeting me. But of all the people in the world, my best friend Kenna has been the one person who has stuck by me through everything.

For twenty years, we’ve been each other’s confidant and rock. But this past week, it was my honorable duty to stand next to her as she said “I do”. As I watched her get ready in the morning, frantically request a break-up song to listen to in the car, and then lay eyes on her husband for the first time on their wedding day, tidal waves of memories washed over me.

I’ve lived in Los Angeles for almost eleven years, so for the majority of our friendship we’ve been apart. That has never stopped us. Birthdays, tours, drive-by hello’s…you name it, we did it to see each other. And it’s this type of friendship and support that continually pushes me to pursue my dreams.

It’s easy to lose steam after graduating from film school. We’re out in the world now with no deadlines to follow. Yet. But with a rushing river behind me, autumn leaves dancing their way to the ground, and the happiest tears streaming down my eyes, I saw my friend realize her dream. I knew at that moment that my dreams were only just out of reach.

The year we met, our school took the chorus and band students on a field trip to New York City. We were going to seed a brand new show; it hadn’t even opened yet. We had never been to Broadway before, but everyone was so excited. The show: Wicked.

The penultimate song the witches sing, “For Good”, happened to be my and Kenna’s eighth-grade and high school graduation songs. The night before I moved to California, I sang this at karaoke thinking back on everything I’d learned up until that point in my life.

In the time while my partner and I were in Tennessee for her wedding, and since I’ve been home, I’ve felt more inspired and creative than I have for months. Watching someone I care about step into their life, wholeheartedly, lit the fire underneath me that I’ve been missing.

I write this with all sincerity. 

Because I knew Kenna, I have been changed for good.